Injuries to Consumers

Chris Welsh, Esq. www.welsh-law.com Safety advocates from four different groups are pushing for the National Highway Traffic Safety Association(“NHTSA”) to mandate a brake safety technology in big rig trucks. The technology is forward collision avoidance and mitigation braking, aka”F-CAM,” uses radar to alert the driver of imminent danger and to apply the brakes. If it determines that a crash is about to occur, it will automatically apply them to lessen the severity of the collision. The technology has been available for quite some time, but has seen inconsistent application by individual companies. Reportedly, just 3% of the more than 3 …

Robert Sachs, Esq. http://www.shragerlaw.com There is no question that very serious problems of neglect, abuse, and inside politics currently wrack the nursing home industry. Here in Pennsylvania, the fight to protect our elderly loved ones against such negligence and corruption is very real. Last year, the state health department posted a disclaimer that their “surveys” of nursing home compliance with safety regulations were not intended “to be evidence of compliance with any legal standard of care in third-party litigation.” In other words, inspection records were not to be used against nursing homes in court. This type of language clearly tries …

Chris Welsh, Esq. welsh-law.com A county jury in Iowa has awarded a former truck driver $25 million in punitive damages in a case against his workers’ compensation insurance provider. The driver, Toby Thornton, 37, of Clayton County Recycling was paralyzed in a front the chest down in a trucking accident, after which his employer’s insurance company fought his claim for compensation benefits for years, even denying that he was paralyzed. The Pottawattamie County jury found that the American Interstate Insurance for acted in bad faith in its handling of Thornton’s claim, and awarded Thornton $25 million in punitive damages and …

Chris Welsh, Esq. welsh-law.com Compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg has so far determined that the now notorious GM ignition switch defect, which was found to shut off the airbag and power steering, is responsible for 56 deaths. The new total has been climbing since the Jan. 31st deadline to submit claims to the compensation fund, which was set up due to the sheer size of the GM issue. Feinberg directed other mass compensation funds for other great tragedies, including the September 11th fund and one for the BP oil spill. As part of the process, those who submitted their claim for …

Chris Welsh, Esq. www.welsh-law.com The Florida Court of Appeal, 5th District, has reinstated negligence claims against a pharmacy in the death of patient Steven Porter, who was being treated for a stress syndrome (harrismartin.com). Allegedly, the pharmacy filled prescriptions that were lawfully written by a physician but unreasonable, thus breaching its duty of care to the patient. The appeals court concluded that the pharmacy could be held liable for failing to inquire why the patient’s doctor repeatedly prescribed drugs before previous prescription for that drug had been finished. It is alleged that the pharmacy filled up to 30 prescriptions for …